4. Gold fever

2024-05-14

What were the Gold Rushes? Why did people from all over the world get ‘gold fever’?

What was life like on the Ballarat goldfields of Victoria, on Wada Wurrung Country?

With so many different groups of people, how did everyone get along?

Did First Nations people mine gold too? What was the Eureka Stockade?

How did the Gold Rushes change Australia?

Students from Preshill Primary School and Westbourne Grammar in Melbourne tell us what they know about the Gold Rushes.

Fred Cahir, Andrew Pearce, Sarah Van de Wouw and an oral history about a Chinese miner share the different experiences of goldfields life.

How to use this episode in your classroomPlay all the way through (28 minutes) or play half the episode (14 minutes) and pause.We'll tell you when you've reached halfway, and recap the episode.Use the 4 page Learning Materials worksheet PDF with your class, and find more resources on our website.
Voices Professor Fred Cahir is a professor in Australian History at Federation University. Andrew Pearce is the Learning Program Leader at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat. Sarah Van de Wouw is the Education Officer at the Eureka Centre, Ballarat. Gabrielle Wang interviewed by Anna Zhu for the Australians with Chinese heritage oral history project, from the National Library of Australia online catalog.
Episode image

Gold panning dish. Image courtesy of the National Museum of Australia.

Music

Lady Marie, Rush to the Clearing, Borough and Jespen by Blue Dot Sessions.

TranscriptDownload Gold Fever transcript in WordDownload Gold Fever transcript as PDF
CreditsHosted by Axel Clark. Made on Gadigal Country by Anna Clark, Clare Wright, Jane Curtis and Britta Jorgensen.Executive producers are Clare Wright and Anna Clark. Podcast concept, design and development by Anna Clark. Indigenous Cultural Consultant is Katrina Thorpe. Story editor is Kyla Slaven.Learning material by Nick Adeney, Victorian primary educatorCurriculum advisors are Nicole Laauw, Department of Education NSW, and Rose Reid, Association of Independent Schools of NSW

Thanks to all the students whose voices you hear in this episode and their schools and teachers: Princes Street Primary school, Marrickville West Primary School, Westbourne Grammar School, Preshil Primary School, La Perouse Primary School, and Yirrkala Bilingual School.

Hey History! is produced by the Australian Centre for Public History at UTS and UTS Impact Studios.

Impact Studios' executive producer is Sarah Gilbert.

No. of episodes

17

Latest episode

2026-04-29

Where can you listen?

Apple Podcasts Spotify Podtail Google Podcasts RSS

For kids age 8-12, a series on Australian history with stories and music. For teachers, a professional learning series called Hey History Teacher!

Season 1 follows Stage 2 and 3 of the Australian curriculum, and of NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland. Students can listen in class and use our Learning Materials designed and road-tested by a primary school educator.

Go back in time to the Gold Rush. What happened at the meetings between Captain Cook and First Nations people at Kamay Botany Bay? Experience life as a convict kid, and hear how First Nations people learn on Country.

Season 2 is for teachers, teacher-educators and pre-service teachers. hear conversations and advice about over 8 episodes, including teaching difficult histories, creative history teaching, approaching First Nations histories with care and confidence, complexity in history teaching, advice for new history teachers, great history teaching, and teaching the Australian Wars.

These eight PD episodes are grounded in current research and features fifteen classroom educators and academics from around Australia.

Hey History! is made by history professors, so you'll hear from Australia's top historians and experts. It's produced by The Australian Centre for Public History and Impact Studios at the University of Technology Sydney, in partnership with La Trobe University.

Hey History Teacher! series is made with the support of the History Teachers Association of New South Wales.